Why Celebrate A 71st Birthday

Celebrating a birthday is a very old tradition; it is even mentioned in the Torah. “And it was on the third day, Pharaoh’s birthday, that he made a feast for all his servants” (Genesis 40:20). But the age long question remains — why celebrate birthdays?

When I reached the age of seventy a year ago, I decided that this is going to be my new starting point for the next count of my life experiences. On January 13^th I turned seventy-one, which was the first year to measure what I’ve accomplished and how many people benefited from my presence in this world. In my life I follow a saying by Hillel the Elder, who two thousand years ago famously proclaimed, “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And if I am only for myself, who am I? And if not now, when?” I derive great pleasure in everything I do as a devoted husband, loving father, a great friend, a caring mortgage broker, and the provider of employment for our company’s hard working associates and employees.

In 2017, I personally helped 84 clients benefit from their mortgages. 4,443 readers received my weekly “Encounters” and “Money Solutions” and over 700 acquired my photo-story book “42 Encounters in San Francisco”. Judging by the reviews on Amazon, people enjoyed reading the book and praised my images. During the last year, I finished working on the sequel photo-book, “42 Encounters with Couples in San Francisco”, which will be available before the end of this year. On September 4^th we adopted a labradoodle puppy who became the hero of my next book, “42 Encounters with Dog Lovers”, which is going to be available in March. I am currently working on a new book, “Retirement Solutions for Smart People. 5 Easy Ways to Enjoy Your Golden Age”. After helping a number of clients with their reverse mortgages, I realized that a lot of people are not ready to retire. I hope my book will help them in this process. To continue working on this book and to celebrate my birthday, we came to The Sea Ranch for a week. Thus this short vacation, which we enjoyed very much, will also benefit others. And since our dog Max enjoyed this place as well, we will probably come back here in a few months, so I can continue writing the next chapters of the book.

P.S. Since this story is about making myself and other people happy, I am sharing with you four images of happy people I encountered in The Sea Ranch.

Do Not Keep Me As A Secret!
Smile And Please SHARE It With A Friend!

Cheers,